I don't get how they can be called commie blocks when the former USSR wasn't the first to come up with them.

Because they were more common in communist countries especially in the former USSR. In fact alot of the commie blocks in other communist countries were modeled from the Russian ones. Such example would be Alamar in Cuba.

Here are some pics of the "Westside" projects on the western edge of SF's Fillmore District. This is a small housing development that covers one square block, with probably no more than a few hundred residents. I took them about 2 years ago:

Here's a video of the same projects:

And If you're interested in hip-hop, here are some videos that show some more footage of the projects:

St. Jamestown, in Toronto, is not government housing. It's regular rental buildings, although they are one of the cheapest apartment complexes in downtown. It costs around 800 dollars cdn. a month, for a 1 bedroom apartment, (which is pretty cheap in Toronto) but they are owned by private companies. The better maintained buildings go for around 1000 dollars a month. (one bedroom) I have friends who live there and they are quite content.

Just curious, does urban design and architecture of one public housing contribute to the urban problems inside like crime or society?

It can.

The Bijlmer estate's problems have always partially been blamed on the sheer size of it's buildings and parking garages, combined with the shift between working and living environments and elevated motorways it gave room to hundreds of homeless addicts to move into these spaces while it was impossible to keep things in check in such an environment.

Also, it has been said about that (and many other similar) neighbourhood that people lose touch with their surroundings when housed in such numbers in such buildings. This leaves way for serious neglect.

St. Jamestown, in Toronto, is not government housing. It's regular rental buildings, although they are one of the cheapest apartment complexes in downtown. It costs around 800 dollars cdn. a month, for a 1 bedroom apartment, (which is pretty cheap in Toronto) but they are owned by private companies. The better maintained buildings go for around 1000 dollars a month. (one bedroom) I have friends who live there and they are quite content.

4 of the 19 buildings were built by the government. Today, I believe 2 towers are still entirely public housing.